A Mary Time in Foster's
by Gamewizard2008
Summary: Mary's first day at Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. Takes place after the Art Saga in Seven Lights.


**Here is a one-shot that takes place after the Art Saga in _Legend of the Seven Lights_. So before reading this, read that story, or there will be spoilers and confusion. :P But if you have, enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _A Mary Time in Foster's_**

 **KND Moonbase**

After Cheren returned from one of his adventures, he was back in Moonbase to relieve the exhaust with paperwork. He heard a _bling!_ on his computer, and saw that he had email. "Ah, it's from April!" Cheren clicked the message and began to read to himself.

". . . . Wow… That's quite a story. But I'd be happy to get Mary and Ib into CND Training. …" That name sounded weird in his head. "Who names their kid 'Ib'? Also…" The other name sounded weird, too. "Mary… I feel like I should know someone named Mary… but this is the first time I'm hearing about her. Or… is it? …" He looked over April's story again. "Hm… Knowing me though, she's probably a friend."

 **Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends**

Mary slept beside the window in her room. When the sun came up every morning, it would shine through and light up her head of golden hair. When she felt the warmth touch her face, she got up on her knees to open the window and breathe the fresh morning air. She would then reach a hand up toward the sun and try to clasp it in her fingers, even though it was up in the sky. She was just glad to see it came up.

She had been brought to Foster's yesterday, welcomed by the friendly Friends who lived here. When Mary went to sleep that night, she was afraid it would all be a dream and she'd wake up in that gallery. She was afraid of waking up all alone in darkness. The sun came up and reminded her that she was in a new home.

Her empty portrait hung on the wall in her bedroom. Mary approached the portrait and placed a hand against it. The hand became flat and part of the portrait. She pulled it off, and her hand regained 3-D shape. She looked at both hands and flexed her fingers. She looked at her feet and wiggled her toes. She felt the smooth green nightgown she was given to wear. She looked like a human girl… but she was not really human. It felt so weird… being real and not real at the same time.

Mary dressed up in her dark green dress with a blue neckerchief, black socks, and green shoes. The same clothes she was drawn with, and the ones she kept during her years at Goldenweek Manor. Mary wondered if she should still call herself a Goldenweek, now that she was no longer tied to them. Well, maybe she would, because she would always be April's sister.

When Mary exited her room, she heard the squeaky sound of gym shoes hitting the floor. She looked left and saw Wilt approaching. He was a red-skinned Friend with tall legs, one left arm, and a broken eye. "Oh, hello, Mary!" Wilt greeted happily. "I hope you slept well! That room hasn't been occupied in a while, but I clean it up every other day, since we could get a Friend any time, you know? I know it's not a great room, but if there's something wrong with it, just let me know, alright? I wanna help you feel welcome here."

"Oh, it's fine." Mary smiled. "It's a fine room. My room! It's fine. And mine. Hey, so, Mr. Tall Guy? Why is your arm so tiny?"

"You mean this arm?" He waved his right stub. "Heheh, it's a long story. My arm got crushed and, well, the doctors weren't sure how to fix it since I didn't have bones. They decided it was easier to cut it off. It's okay, because Imaginary Friends don't have blood. …I'm sorry if that's disturbing."

"Blood…" Mary lightly pinched the back of her left hand. She felt the tingle, but she didn't think she had blood, anymore.

"MAKE WAY, MAKE WAY! Best Imaginary Friend ever COMING through!" Wilt stepped aside when a short blob of a pure blue color wobbled over. Mary's mouth became a small 'o' when the blob narrowed his eyes and looked at her closely. "So, _you're_ the new Friend, hm?" He poked her belly. "Well, you'll fit in at Foster's after some touching up. The name's Blooregard Q. Kazoo, but you can call me Bloo. I don't usually reserve that honor for many people."

"Um, I'm sorry Bloo, but, doesn't everyone call you Bloo?" Wilt asked.

"Shhh, _I'm trying to introduce myself here!"_ Bloo whisper-shouted.

"Wooooow!" Mary gazed with delight at the short blob. "You're bluuuuue! Blue is my favorite color ever! I like it better than pink and yellow!" She knelt down and softly rubbed Bloo's round top.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bloo flailed his stubby arms to shake hers off. "Don't do that, I just combed my hair."

"Uh… Hair?"

"Listen, little lady, I know you're new here, so I'll just be direct: I'm the best Imaginary Friend this house has, and probably the whole world. Blue _is_ the best color, as you know, that's why God made the sky and ocean blue. There isn't one place in the house where the Friends don't know my name," he put his arm around Mary, "so if you're friends with me, you're friends with everyone. And you want that, don't you?" He nudged her with his elbow.

"Oh, yes! I wanna make lots of friends!"

"Great! Just do exactly as I do and you'll make friends in no time! TO THE DINING ROOM!" Bloo grabbed Mary's arm and zipped off. He came back and said to Wilt, "Oh, and Wilt, here: for your troubles." He tossed a quarter up to him and ran off again. Wilt looked at the simple coin with confusion.

 **Dining Room**

"The first thing you need to know is I start my days with a well-balanced breakfast." Bloo explained as he walked Mary down the extremely long table. The girl's mouth was drooling at the variety of delicious foods. "Of course, I won't be able to eat the amount I need if I share with you, but that's the type of generous Friend I am." The two made it to and sat at an area with all sweets, like cakes and ice cream. "But you can look forward to the daily breakfast-dessert every morning! Let's DIG IN!" Bloo began to guzzle up a whole bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and bananas.

"Ugh, Bloo, you're supposed to start with the cereal and eggs, THEN come and grab dessert." Frankie Foster, the 42-year-old caretaker of Foster's, stated. "Mary, if you want, I can get you some-"

The Goldenweek girl began gobbling large slices of cake, and squirting syrup into her mouth.

 **Frankie's Office**

"Whoooohhh, whooohhh, whoooaaa…" Bloo and Mary, with their bellies round and full, wobbled into the main office. Bloo sat at the desk while Mary stood beside him. "So, that lady was Frankie, the maid. She took over management after Mr. Herriman died, but she's still lame. Anyway, now that the food is settling, it's time for our next part of the day: what I like to call the Burping Hour! First, drink this soda." He handed Mary a soda can, and he drank his own can while Mary drank hers. "Now do this!" He grabbed the microphone and pushed the PA button. "…BUUURP."

"BUUURP." Mary repeated.

"BUUURP."

"BUUUURP."

 _"BUUURP." "BUUURP." "BUUURP." "BUUURP."_ The belches were heard in every room of the house. The Friends still in bed were putting their heads under their pillows. Friends roaming the halls were twitching their eyes. Eduardo was taking cover in the cardboard box fortress he had built for this purpose, wearing a cooking pot helmet and wielding a broom.

"Ahhhh…" Bloo and Mary sighed after letting the gas loose.

"BLOOOO!" Frankie swung the door open and stomped in.

"MARY, GRAB ON!" He clutched Mary's hand. "EYUH!" With his other hand, he threw a ball of powder on the floor, which exploded into a thick white cloud. The cloud cleared as the entire office was covered in powder. Frankie glared at Bloo and Mary, who were also covered. "Awwww." Bloo moaned. "I thought these things teleport you. They do in the movies." He took Mary and jumped out the window. He came back and, "For your troubles." tossed Frankie a quarter, then jumped back.

 **Arcade**

"This is the house's arcade, which has every videogame ever imagined." Bloo explained, showing Mary around the room that was lit only by the game screens. "Now, I don't mean to discourage you, but I have the highest score of every game in here, and they're pretty tough to beat. I could teach you what I know, but you'd be lucky if you get the 2nd highest score."

 _"Nnn! Nnn! Nnn! Nnn!"_ They heard a faint grunting sound when they got close to a _Jetpac_ console. They looked down to see Peas, the tiny Friend who was a pea, trying to climb the console's corner. _"Hey, fellas! Mind lending me a hand?"_

"Oh, wow!" Mary beamed, lightly picking up the little pea. "You look like the food that my old parents used to make me! I didn't know you things talk! Why don't you ever say anything when I eat you?"

 _"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! !"_ Peas shook. _"I'm trying to get up to that game so I can play it. I'm going for the high score!"_

"HA HA HA HA haaaaa!" Bloo cackled. "The high score, YOU? You couldn't even get ONE point!"

 _"For your information, I've been watching OTHER people play and I wanna try out some tricks! I just… need someone to help me. Like you!"_ He pointed at Mary. _"How would YOU like to help me, little girl?"_

"Little girl?" Mary looked around the floor. "Where?"

 _"Oh, very funny. Just put me in your ear and I'll tell you how the game works."_

"Pfft, this is gonna be funnier than watching Eduardo play." Bloo said, pulling a quarter out of his "pocket." "Fine, Peas. Do your best." He put the coin in the game.

Mary placed Peas in her right ear as he spoke, _"Okay, grab the stick. That makes the little man move. The red button shoots his gun, and the blue button makes him float."_

"But how does he know I'm pushing those buttons?"

 _"He-… I dunno, it's just how videogames work. Just do what I say, I'll tell you what to push."_

"This will take two seconds." Bloo rolled his eyes.

 **22 minutes later**

"WWWWWWHHHHHAT? !" Bloo gaped when the blinking score was posted above the one beside his name.

"Ooo, look! Those numbers are blinking! What does that mean?" Mary asked.

 _"It means you got the high score! Come on, Mary, enter my name!"_ Peas said eagerly.

"WAIT A SECOND! You didn't get that score, MARY did!" Bloo shouted. "SHE should type her name, NOT YOURS!"

"But, Bloo… I thought _you_ had all the high scores?" Mary asked, confused.

"BUT I- YOU- HE- IT-; EYAAAAAGGGH!" Bloo swung a kick at the console and ran away. He came back, threw a quarter at the machine, and left again.

 **Upstairs; Coco's room**

The floor of Coco's room was covered with many colorful eggs she had lain herself. The bird-palmtree-airplane creature's happy mindless expression didn't change as she trotted about and laid more eggs. "Oooooo!" Mary gazed at all the eggs when Bloo cracked the door open.

"This is Coco. She has her own room now. She wanted more space to lay her eggs."

"What's in these eggs?" Mary picked a blue one up. "Baby birdies? Or maybe bunnies! I heard there was a bunny that laid eggs on Christmas."

"Actually," Bloo took the plastic egg and pulled it open, "they contain prizes." A lottery ticket came out.

"Prizes? Where does she get them?"

"Who knows. But somewhere among these dozens of eggs lie the keys to someone's racecar." He smirked eagerly. "And we're going to find it! ! So Mary, I'll get Coco to lay more eggs, and you just keep poppin' these bad boys open, got it?" Mary nodded. "Good. Ahem…

"AAAAAHHH!" Bloo made a terrific leap and latched onto Coco's airplane back. "RIDE 'EM, COWGIRL! Mary, now's your chance!"

"COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO!" Coco ran around rampantly, dropping more eggs. Mary hurriedly began pulling each and every egg open. She found a pencil, some whipped cream, a fork, some cigarettes, ChapStick, an accordion, Abu from _Aladdin_ , the Holy Grail, but nothing that looked like car keys. As Bloo kept riding Coco, the room became more and more flooded with eggs.

"BLOOOO? MARYYYYY?" Frankie roamed about the halls in search of the two. "I swear, if one of these halls has gelatin stuck to the ceiling, I'm gonna…?" She found the door to Coco's room was trembling. When Frankie pulled it open- "WAAAAAAAHHH!" She was buried under a mountain of eggs.

Coco popped up above the eggs, looking dizzy. "VICTORY!" Bloo cheered, popping up with a set of keys in his hand. Mary climbed out and shook her messy hair. "Come on, Mary! TO THE AUTO STOOOOORE!" He grabbed the girl's hand and ran off. He came back, tossed a quarter at Coco's palmtree, and resumed.

 **Mark's Auto Shop**

"Whaddyou _mean_ they don't go to a racecaaaaarrrrr?" Bloo whined at the man named Mark.

"Look, kid, we don't even sell racecars. I dunno where they come from, but they ain't from here. Besides, we don't really sell to Imaginary Friends. 'less they got a driver's license, y'know?"

"That's discriminatory! Ripoff artist!"

"OW!" Bloo kicked the man in the shin.

"Come on, Mary, there's gotta be some place that sells a good racecar." Bloo said angrily as he walked away from the man. "…Mary?" He looked around the parking lot. The girl was nowhere to be seen. "Hmm." Bloo shrugged and continued walking. He came back to Mark, who was still holding his shin, and chucked a quarter at him.

 **Foster's**

Mary stood in the open double-doorway of the large house with a blank expression. She looked down, seeing the toe-ends of her shoes were inches from passing the door's boundary. "GOTCHA!" Mary flinched when Frankie grabbed her right arm from behind. The woman had parts of Coco's eggs stuck to her body. "Didn't think you and your little blue mastermind were gonna evade me for long, did ya? …Hey… where is Bloo?" Frankie looked around.

"I think he was taking me to a car store." Mary replied.

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"…" She looked outside with a sad expression. "If I leave the house, won't I disappear?"

"Oh, that's only for Friends with dead creators. But didn't your creator drop you off here yesterday? Or, who were those kids?"

"Um…"

Mary tried to explain her story as best as she could.

"Wow… That's pretty amazing. And kind of confusing. But if I understood that last part… then you should be able to leave if April's still around, right?"

"Um… I guess so. April loves me lots." Mary smiled.

"But Mary, you shouldn't get yourself involved with Bloo. No matter what he might've told you, he gets himself in more trouble than Benedict Arnold and Darth Vader having a street race. I mean, you didn't actually _like_ doing those things, did you?"

"Well… Bloo told me that if I did what he did, I would make lots of friends. I wanna have more friends."

"Well, it'll be hard to make some doing what Bloo does, trust me. If you want more friends, just go around and talk to people. Foster's is full of Friends, that's what we're all about!"

"I know that… it's just…" Mary looked around to see a few Imaginaries pass by: a giant monster of pale blue fur, a huge gummy bear, and a pair of scissors with legs and eyes. "All of them look like… monsters. It's just like at the gallery. I feel… different… here…"

"Mary," Frankie knelt beside her, "these guys are different from those guys at the gallery. They're all really kind and sweet. …Most of them. No one will care if you look like a human, as long as you're a Friend at heart. …Of course, every now and then, some humans show up disguised as Friends to get free food… in fact, we even get a few Nimbi and Minish doing the same, that's why we had to get the X-ray and… ugh, I'm just rambling." She shook her head. "Look, Mary, if you're too nervous to talk to these people, I'll hang out with you. I was going to go out shopping anyway, so if you wanted to come to the mall or something…"

"Oooooo, I love malls! They're really big and have a lot of floors and stairs that move!"

"Well, hop in the Foster's Bus and I'll let you ride them when we get there!"

"YAAAAAY!" Mary ran outside with her arms in the air. "Does your bus have rockets and fly in space? ? I once rode a train that did that!"

"Heh heh heh, well if you could imagine…"

 **The Mall**

"WHEEEEEE!" Mary cheered at the top of her lungs when the escalator lifted her to the second floor. The other riders shut their ears in annoyance. "I don't have to move my feet and the stairs take me up! But when I go down," Mary skipped down some steps, "I'm still kind of going up! Frankie, these stairs are so weird!"

"Ha ha ha!" Frankie laughed, delighted by her carefree antics. "Well, we're almost at the top, Mary, so get ready to step off."

"I'll walk down backwards!" Mary was stepping back, "But when I look forward, it still feels like I'm going up. I wonder if I walk up backwards," she about-faced, "will that-" She tripped on the slot where the stairs vanished into, falling on her back.

"That's why you gotta pay attention." Frankie blushed, helping Mary to her feet. "Come on, Mary, there's a clothing store over there! Since you'll be wearing them, you probably want a few pairs to change into."

Mary grabbed a bunch of clothes that looked pretty… which was nearly all of them. In the dressing rooms, she tried on a green two-piece swimsuit, a very fat blue coat, pants, and hat that only showed her eyes, a pink sparkly prom gown with high-heel sandals, and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt, with baggy pants and untied sneakers. "Next!" she yelled, holding a hand out to Frankie.

"Mary, I'm not buying ALL of these clothes." Frankie chuckled. "I'll get the ones that look nicest on you. …Hey, try these on!"

Mary was later walking out of the mall with a new green shirt that showed her belly, a green and white skirt, and white running shoes. "Frankie, Frankie!" She jumped. "I feel like a new Mary! But I'm the same Mary, aren't I? Is this what they call a 'same difference'?"

"You know, it kind of is! Hmm, but your hair kinda clashes with the outfit. It looks messy. But I know just the place!"

 **Salon De Sisse**

"Frankie? Why is our hair getting sucked up into a vacuum?" Mary asked as they both lay back on chairs.

"They're not vacuums, Mary, they're hair-dryers!" Frankie laughed. "They just washed our hair, now it needs drying."

"Just like laundry? Are laundry rooms salons for clothes?"

"I never thought of them that way, but, I guess they are! You know, you're pretty insightful, Mary."

"Insightful… yeah." Mary never heard that word before. "Hey, Frankie, mud is dirty, right?"

"Yeeeaah?… "

"So why do people bathe in it?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure. I tried it a few times, and it works, though. I don't think we should, since we're just getting our hair clean."

"Okay. …Hey, Frankie, if people put pickles over their eyes, would the pickles taste like eyes?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Frankie laughed more. Even though she lived in the real world, these questions never arose to Frankie.

 **Park**

Mary's hair was wrapped in a pretty ponytail. Her yellow hair was no longer messy, but smooth, and went perfectly with her new outfit. She ran around the park, full of life and energy. "You know, Mary, I think I was right about before. We've been out for hours and… you're still here."

"Oh?" Mary stopped running, looking at each side of her hands. "I…I'm still here."

"You sure are."

"…Is this why I feel so happy?"

"Why else would you feel happy?"

"I don't know… I thought it was because of the new clothes!"

"That must be why, too! You have a lot of reasons to feel happy, Mary. You have new clothes, a new house, tons of new friends… and since Imaginary Friends don't age, you'll always be this way!"

That statement tugged one of her heartstrings. Mary looked downtrodden. "What's wrong, Mary?"

"Nothing… Just… When I became real, I was a little girl… and then I grew up. I wanted to be an adult and be tall and smart. Now I won't ever grow big. April and all my friends will grow old and die… and I won't ever see them again."

"…" Frankie frowned at this realization. Being young forever did have its downsides. "Well… even if that's true, Mary… you're a wonderful person. You can make more friends. You'll make lots of people happy just being who you are. And you'll be able to see lots of new things. Like…Like that rock!" Frankie pointed at a tall rock in the center of the park. "They say whoever climbs that rock becomes King or Queen of the Park."

"How do they decide which is which?"

"I dunno! Find out."

"Okay!" Mary excitedly ran over and climbed the tall stone. Once up top, she sat on and kicked her feet in the air. "HOORAAAAAY! I'm the King or Queen of the Park! Now everyone will bring me lots of presents!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mary!" Frankie called. "That's the kind of thing that starts a revolution!"

"What's a revolution? Is that like a party?"

"No, it's a-" Her phone started ringing. "Hold on, Mary." She answered, "Hello? Uh… I'm sorry, what? BLOO? You're WHERE? ? Ugh! I'll be there in a minute." She hung up. "Mary, come on, we have to go to the police station." She walked away in anger. "Bloo tried to break into the police station to see if they keep stolen racecars. Honestly, I don't know where he gets these ideas!" Mary kicked off the rock and raced after her.

 **Police Station**

"When we get home, I'm cooking 'IT' for you tonight." Frankie told the frustrated blob as he wobbled outside. "Now get in the bus!"

 _"Mmm-myow, racecar, mmm-mmnn."_ Bloo mumbled.

"Thanks for calling, Officer." Frankie said to the cop. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

"No, not too much. All he did was kick me in the shin and throw a quarter at my face, for some reason."

"I'll make sure he doesn't do… MARY!" She spotted the girl pick up and study a gun from the cop's desk. "PUT THAT DOWN! It's dangerous!"

"Dangerous? Why?"

"Because it KILLS people!"

"Kills people?" Mary looked at the weapon again. "It looks like… the thing those bad guys were using."

"What bad guys- Never mind, just put it down!"

 **Foster's**

After they returned to Foster's, Frankie sent Bloo up to his room. She turned around and noticed Mary slowly following with her head down. "Mary, what's wrong this time?"

"You said… that thing kills people."

"Oh… Mary, I didn't mean to worry you. It's not going to get _you_."

"Do bad people use those things? Do they use those things to… kill people?"

"I…I'm afraid they do."

Mary walked over to a window and looked up at the sun. The big light in the sky that made everything look pretty. "Mary, just don't think about stuff like that. The world's a wonderful place, and somebody with a bright spirit like yours only makes it-"

"But it isn't." Mary said. "The world has lots of bad things. Like the gallery. April and her friends are fighting lots of bad people. The bad people… killed Cheren's dad. Cheren was April's friend. That means… he's my friend. They're in the Kids Next Door. The Kids Next Door stops bad people."

Frankie stared at her, wondering what she was talking to herself about.

Mary turned around and showed Frankie her bright smile. "That's why I wanna join the Kids Next Door! I wanna stop the bad people, too! So then the world can look even prettier!"

"Hm hm!" Frankie smiled. "See, Mary? You're already a grown-up. And a smart one, too. You'll fit in perfectly at Foster's."

Almost immediately, they heard what sounded like an explosion outside. Mary, Frankie, and some other Friends rushed out to see smoke coming from the Extremeasaur cage. The small door into the cage opened, and Sunni Chariton stumbled out, battered and covered in soot. She leaned on the door as she gasped for breath. She looked up at them with a dizzy expression. "Guess what, huff… I just made a new friend." She fell and fainted.

* * *

 **Following the Art Saga's events, nobody else remembers Mary right away, that's why Cheren's mind is foggy. And no better way to end a one-shot than with a foreshadow. Guess who Sunni's new friend is! Hint, he appeared earlier in _Seven Lights_! Well, I'll see you when we continue this saga. XP**


End file.
